China's 'Best And Brightest' Leaving U.S. Universities And Returning Home

For thousands of Chinese teens flocking to American colleges, the pursuit of the American dream is often dependent on the H1-B visa. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese college students studying in the U.S. are finding it just as interesting these days to return home to the world's No. 2 economy rather than staying a few years in the world's No. 1.

Some 82.23% of students who studied abroad returned to China last year, up from 72.38% in 2012, according to government figures.

China's 21st Century Education Research Institute said foreign countries’ job markets could not accommodate the surge in Chinese students. It wasn't just Chinese studying in their preferred country -- the United States -- but also included students that were studying in New Zealand and Australia as well. National Institute of Education Sciences researcher Chu Chaohui said returning students had more resources and better networks in China to find a job, while Chinese students in the U.S. were dependent on 20,000 H1-B visas for tens of thousands of students, not only from China, and the majority of them working in computer sciences.

Most wealthy Chinese that buy real estate in the U.S. are buying properties for their children to live in during their college years. In fact, college is the number one driver of Chinese real estate sales here. But as this market gets more saturated, and as China's economy becomes more entrepreneurial, students are finding the market to be just as welcoming to them there. Having a U.S. diploma helps.

China students are leading recipients of H1-B student visas, but still pale in comparison to Indian students who tend to be swept up by the big Indian outsourcers like Infosys upon graduation. Under the visa, foreign students are allowed to stay in the country for three years. The visa is renewable for another three.

President Donald Trump has said that he wants the U.S. immigration policy to focus on the "best and the brightest". To some degree, that is the H1-B visa program which is also designed to keep foreign college students in the U.S. economy, primarily in the high-tech fields.

China accounts for less than 12% of all H1-B visas, according to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.

Most of the move home is due to the difficulty of finding work abroad, and a better market for private sector jobs in China, according to a number of students.

Top 10 U.S. Colleges Admitting Chinese Students

1. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2. University of Southern California

3. Purdue

4. Northeastern

5. Columbia

6. Michigan State

7. Ohio State

8. University of California at Los Angeles

9. Indiana University

10. University of California at Berkeley

Source: Foreign Policy magazine using U.S. Department of Homeland Security data. Enrollment figures are based on the F-1 student visa.

I've spent 20 years as a reporter for the best in the business, including as a Brazil-based staffer for WSJ. Since 2011, I focus on business and investing in the big emerging markets exclusively for Forbes.